California Drought Plans: Shutting The Stable Door After The Horse Has Bolted

The drought assistance plan announced today is rather like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. The $678m plan focuses on water conservation, which would be great if there was enough water in California to conserve.

California is the most populous state in the country, and this is too little too late. The focus of any plan needs to be on long term measures that provide water security for California residents.

I have written a couple of articles recently regarding food security issues associated with the weather. You can read the articles here and here. Droughts, floods and snow storms are bad enough, but what if the weather never improved? What if California has it’s usual hot summer followed by another dry winter, then another, and another?

Climate scientists will have us believe that the Earth is either warming or cooling depending on which side of the fence they sit on. There’s no doubt that the climate is changing, and there’s no doubt that these changes are having, and will continue to have, an effect on our food supply.

Food security is a prime concern for all of us. Currently we can go to the store and KNOW for sure that we can buy enough to feed our family. I seriously think that in the not too distant future this will not be the case.

The problem is two-fold. Firstly the weather will affect the crops we can grow in the areas we live in. The current zones may not be applicable for much longer. Produce that ordinarily is grown in California will need to be grown elsewhere if the drought does not break soon. There just isn’t enough water to irrigate the crops. With California producing a whopping 85% of some fruits and veggies consumed in the United States and exporting literally thousands of tons of food to countries such as the UK, we should all be taking notice of what’s happening there.

Flooding can deposit effluence on arable land rendering it useless until the contamination in removed. Sea water inundation poisons the land with salt deposits and late snow can prevent planting and delay growth reducing the yield. These are just some examples of how weather incidents affect the food supply, there are many more.

What happens though if the conditions causing the problems continue? We are heading into spring, a time when California starts to heat up. As California heads towards summer, more and more water will evaporate from the already dangerously low reservoirs and rivers.

The United States is facing a sizeable proportion of their population not having access to a wide variety of fruit and vegetables, and at the same time they have to sort out the issue of water shortages in California being so profound, that even domestic users are facing the possibility of their taps running dry.

Should California get the massive amount of rain they need flooding would occur because the ground is ‘capped’. A cap of baked, dry earth has formed that will not let rain pass through it immediately leading to a huge amount of run off and the resultant flash floods. The cracks that appear on parched earth don’t actually go down that far, they fill with water in seconds, and overflow before water has a chance to soak into the soil around the cracks.

Without looking at the rest of the planet, the California drought highlights just how precarious our food supply is. A major shift is needed in the way we get our fresh food. We need to get back to growing our own, our ancestors did it and they did it well. They did t without chemicals and mechanisation, and they flourished. It may sound stupid suggesting gardening during a serious drought, but it can be done if  you get smart with water.

Step one is to break the cap on any soil you intend to plant in. A garden fork shoved into any cracks and wiggled around is often enough. Even a metal spike and a hammer can breach the surface enough for a garden fork to be pushed into the soil. The aim is not to dig the area, but to make holes in it, to break the surface so that moisture can get down into the soil.

Laying a sheet of plastic over the soil where you have broken the cap will cause condensation on the ground side of the plastic. Over a period of days the soil under the plastic will become damp, and this will make it far easier to work.

Grey water is water than has been used previously for bathing or washing up etc. You can collect it easily by disconnecting the drainage pipe under the sink and putting a bucket in there. A sponge shoved into the pipe will filter out most food scraps you may have missed. This water is ideal to use for watering plants with.

They key is to water underground where it is needed. Drip hoses are costly, but a home made one is cheap and effective. Take the cheapest hose pipe you can find and put a funnel in one end. Fill the required length of hose with fine grit and then poke holes through the pipe, a heated knitting needle works well. Bury the pipe a few inches under the soil. The grit will stop the holes blocking with soil. Water poured into the hose will seep out where it is needed, cutting evaporation by up to 95%.

Using lightweight, light coloured fabric with a mylar blanket or even tinfoil on the underside can give a considerable temperature reduction  under the shelter which also reduces evaporation and prevents scorching of the plants. The shiny side of the tinfoil should face skyward to reflect the maximum amount of heat up and away from your plants.

Gardening in drought conditions is a major challenge, but it’s one that you may need to overcome in order to avoid the price hikes and food shortages that weather related incidents bring, and will most likely continue bringing.

Take Care

Liz